20,000 Houses Still To Be Rebuilt After 5 Years Of Post-Quake Reconstruction
April 25, 2020 | Investopaper
Dhading district is among the 31 districts hardest hit by the devastating earthquake that rattled the country on April 25, 2015. Five years have passed since the disaster and the beginning of the post-quake reconstruction campaign. However, more than 20,000 private houses in the district remain to be rebuilt.
As per the post disaster needs assessment survey conducted in the district after the earthquake, a total 70 thousand 581 beneficiaries had been identified. Thirteen thousand 859 people were registered later citing that they had been left out during the survey. So, 84 thousand 440 families are in the list of beneficiaries in the district.
Among these families, 79 thousand 762 have taken first tranche of the house construction grant provided by the government while 63 thousand 107 families have taken the third tranche after completing the reconstruction of their houses, the National Reconstruction Authority (NRA)’s district project implementation unit stated.
An analysis of this data shows that 21 thousand 333 beneficiaries have still not rebuilt their houses.
Five thousand 112 families had registered for grants for retrofitting their houses and only 24 families have taken the second installment of the grant after completion of retrofitting. Similarly, 412 families were identified as vulnerable and among them, only 213 have constructed houses. Of the 129 landless beneficiaries, only 12 families have taken the third installment of the grants after completing reconstruction of their houses.
The reconstruction of the private houses has not made progress to the expected level. The NRA’s district unit is worried that the lock-down enforced to prevent the spread of corona virus will further hamper the reconstruction works.